Bubblegum Winks and Ninja Stars
by telepathy for the mute
Summary: Sakura is older, and her and Kakashi get paired up in an easytoslackoff mission! Oh my, what will precede this predicament is hardly difficult to imagine. Rated M for what I hope is obvious reasoning by now.
1. Introduction

**Hey everyone! The author here--I wrote this what feels like ages ago, but felt like I should post it up somewhere. It is KakaSaku romance; if I end up continuing far enough into it, there will definitely be some hardcore lemon. 0 But I do want to keep the characters realistic. I will also definitely sneak in some NaruSaku yaoi for giggles. XD**

**PLEEEEEEEEASE review this. I have serious trouble with the tenses, so if you see any problem just say so. I am a poetry veteran, not at all used to prose, but the shit I write can take more than a few vicious stabs.**

**This is still just an intro... setting up the scene, you see! Hope you enjoy; pardon the shortness of it. If I get some reviews and readers that would like more, I will definitely write some more!**

**Without further ado...**

Summertime.

The air seemed heavy that day, wilting plants and particularly spiky hairstyles alike.

Hatake Kakashi tossed his head back weakly and brought his thin fingers to his hairline, coolly brushing his hair, now damp with sweat, aside. Jamming the same hand into his pants pocket, he allowed his body to relax for a moment with an exasperated sigh.

_This is the fifth time this month..._

Though he hated to admit it, he was tired. The prime of his youth felt like an entirely different life, a shadow beneath him with the sun directly above.

He straightened to a rigid position. His muscles ached dully as he walked on toward the Hokage's office.

Upon arrival, he was suprised at who was also standing in front of Tsunade's desk. He hadn't seen Sasuke, Naruto, or Sakura in such a long time. All three were clad in a familiar, dark-green vest. Kakashi beamed. He was proud his former students had graduated to chuunin level. They had all clearly matured since the day they were first formed as a team...

A bewildered voice broke the brief silence upon his entry of the room.

'Kakashi-sensei?!' Naruto was roaring.

'Yo.' He raised a hand to the four staring at him, and kept himself collected; inside he was just as bewildered as Naruto. He hadn't been paired with any one of these three since he was training them.

Awkwardly realizing he was still standing in the doorway, he quickly shuffled to where the others were standing.

Naruto turned back to Tsunade quickly, fists pumping in the air, 'We're going on a mission with Kakashi-sensei?'

The Fifth nodded irately. There had been a lot of trouble lately; she felt a twang of guilt when she had to assign Kakashi to another mission. Many of the Jounen in the village had been overworked. She knew this would be an easy mission, though, and hoped that Kakashi would feel the same.

Barely making it past the clamor of Naruto's excitement, Kakashi heard a quiet voice.

'It's nice to see you again, Kaka-sensei.'

He looked down at Sakura, saw she was blushing, and blushed back. He silently thanked his mask for covering his embarrassment, but wished it weren't so hot out. He had been sweating before he entered the Hokage's office, but Sakura being there next to him seemed to make him sweat more so.

He shook the feeling of unease toward her--her body certainly had changed, but she was still a former student, experiencing the best of her youth. She glowed. The fact that he was many years her senior remained unchanged.

It was simply a passing thought. Perhaps he had been reading too much Icha Icha...


	2. The mission begins!

**Hey, second installment. It's moving slowly so far I know, haha. A whole chapter with them _walking! _Oh, how exciting! Yeah, I know, but I'll kick up the movement soon. Just wanted to establish some stuff; and and I'm a details freak. XD**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy. Please review!**

**Edit: Thanks for tipping me about the incorrect suffixes!**

Tsunade cleared her throat, and leaned forcefully over the cluttered desk with mission in hand. Her bosom was clearly exposed, and Naruto was clearly gawking. Sasuke was the first to notice--Sakura was softly shuffling her feet on spot (something of a nervous habit of hers, he assumed). And Kakashi was an adult... surely not a simple pervert like Naruto.

He felt uncomfortable being the only one aware of this awkward situation. He was scowling and looking the other way as Tsunade piped up, 'Do you want to take them with you?'

Naruto played oblivious to her game. 'What? What are you talking about?'

She smirked, obviously amused, and shook her shoulders slightly.

'Don't laugh at me! I was only looking at the amulet from the first Hokage! It's an interesting part of Konoha's history!'

'Be quiet Naruto. You're noisy', Kakashi stepped forward, gingerly slipping the paper from her fingers, then skillfully unfolding it.

Tsunade straightened up, 'Well?'

'An escort?' Kakashi smiled slightly, knowing this would be a walk in the park for them. His simple glee was interrupted by Sasuke, his voice breaking.

'If this is a simple escort, why assign a jounen?'

'Yeah! What's so great about this guy to require four elite ninja, such as ourselves?' Naruto had become increasingly impressed with his own skills in particular.

'Ah...' Tsunade let a sigh escape her. This group was a handful. 'If you would read that slip closer, you may notice you are escorting a royal figure to their home country. Royalty are important people, remember?'

She paused to quickly pick up a mug of tea from her desk, dwarfed by the towers of undone paperwork surrounding, and took a sip. Placing this item down slowly, she continued, 'The man you are escorting is young and insecure. Even after I assured him the three of you were excellent ninja, he insisted to have a jounen. He also carries many valuable items with him, along with his own carriage and horses. Your job will be to ward off petty thieves.'

Kakashi's smile was back, though faint underneath the dark fabric clinging to his skin.

'Valuable items, eh?' Naruto babbled on in his usual tone, elbowing Sasuke gently as the group walked out of the Hokage's office. 'Hey, d'you think he'll reward us with some of these valuable things for doing such an outstanding job of protecting him from thieves? Huh? Sasuke, are you well?'

Sasuke had let his head hang gradually during the time they were receiving their mission, but at this he straightened up and scowled his usual at Naruto. 'You're noisy', he said, and when Naruto had gone ahead he couldn't help suppressing a smile.

Sakura had been fairly quiet during this session. She was normally a very outspoken character, fists pumping in anticipation for work--similar to that of Naruto, but something had held her back.

_Why is that..?_

Kakashi glanced fleetingly at her. She looked puzzled, as if solving some impossible equation in her head. Her hair had grown since their last encounter, now gently framing her neck and shoulders as she walked.

'We've all been so quiet', he mused aloud.

'Ah? What are you talking about, Kaka-sensei?' Naruto yelled from over his shoulder. Loud as always.

'Well, except for you!' He called back, in a much softer tone.

Sakura thought she saw him giggle silently after this remark. 'Well...' she began, 'Then this will be like a new beginning for us, as four equal comrades, instead of three students and a teacher.'

'Ah... Then I suppose you ought to stop calling me _sensei._' He winked.

Sasuke gave the usual silent look, walking briskly, but Naruto was enthralled. 'Kakashi!', he sang.

'Naruto!' Sakura snapped. 'That is not proper! Kaka-sensei was just joking; we still have to refer to him as the proper--'

Kakashi cut her off, 'Oh, no, I was being quite serious, Sakura. You do take me seriously, right?'

She laughed nervously, rattling off the best excuse she could muster, 'Yes, of course of do! I mean... well, it's just...' Somehow she couldn't finish her sentence.

Kakashi chuckled. He didn't want to drop this topic, curious about what Sakura really thought of her old sensei, but was gracious enough to do so somewhat, anyway. 'But you are right,' he said. 'This will be our first mission together as equals. A new beginning.'

The escort's carriage was in sight now. Their pace quickened slightly.

_Equals..._ Sakura glanced up to Kakashi. He seemed to tower above her, stoic and so sure of himself. In his company, she had often felt inferior--being very much smaller in size in comparison. But this felt different. What had changed?

_New beginnings..._ Sasuke remained silent. His feelings felt unknown to him; he'd never properly learned how to deal with his emotions. Maybe if he just ignored it, it would go away...

_Maybe we'll get treated to expensive ramen afterward!_ Naruto was hopeful, as they approached the carriage. This mission had officially begun!


	3. A relatively uneventful day

**Wow, sorry for taking so long to update this! This is a bit longer, I think. You can tell I kind of got lazy near the end, though… Anyway, tell me what you think!**

A few yards away was a thin, nervous-looking man. He waved weakly to the four. Naruto charged forward in excitement and he looked horrified. Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura watched him go ahead, keeping their pace leisurely.

Kakashi was scanning over the slouching man they were going to be escorting. Before leaving, Tsunade had explained he was the daimyo's son--he had been negociating peace between his and another country in place of his father, as the daimyo had been too ill to go himself. It had been hinted he disliked doing such work, wished nothing more than to be a simple middleclass man.

'My name is Uzumaki Naruto!' a familiar voice boomed from ahead. The three lagging behind were close approaching. 'And I', Naruto continued, his fists pumping, 'will definitely protect you during this mission!' Sakura could see the daimyo's son nod unsurely.

Kakashi took a sudden few larger steps, and he was standing next to Naruto. 'He is loud', he said, glancing discreetly to the blond boy, 'but he is reliable.'

Sakura, alarmed by Kakashi's sudden faster movement, jogged quickly behind him. Noticing her, a step behind him, he smiled. He stepped up next to Naruto, and Sasuke quickly after arrived, taking a spot to the left of Kakashi. Seeing his team was now fully there, he turned to the rakish man, 'I am the Jounen you requested for this mission. Our Hokage explained to me you were negotiating a peace treaty with a nearby country, and were concerned about assassins.'

He nodded, 'Yes. I am aware that is rather unlikely, as I am not the daimyo myself. But just to be sure...' he trailed off for a moment, glancing to the side and bringing his stare to the ground. 'You can call me Kioshi. Let there be no formalities.'

Sakura piped her voice into the conversation gracefully, 'Don't worry, Kioshi-san. You will return home to your country safely.' She nodded sternly, 'Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei are both extremely skilled ninjas. With them here, no harm will come to you. I guarantee it.'

'Hey!' Naruto squealed. 'I'm skilled, too!'

'You're too loud, Naruto; if there were any enemy lurking they would discover us because of your mouth! And ... and orange isn't a very stealthy color!'

'That's what you think!' He didn't look discouraged in the least--this bickering was normal for the two. Sasuke and Kakashi were used to it, and as such completely overlooked their arguing. Kioshi, however, had never seen this. He looked taken aback, his eyebrows contorting into something of a shocked state. Kakashi noticed this. 'Kioshi', he said. His voice was smooth, deep, controlled. 'Don't mind those two; if the time comes for them to work together, they will become an excellent team. Let's get going, shall we?' He said the last sentence with exaggerated enthusiasm to catch the attention of the bickering couple, and Sasuke, who had been staring intently at some pebbles to his side.

Kioshi nodded, and continued on to climb into the embellished carriage. Horses drew it slowly, so the four Konoha ninjas could easily walk (at a brisk pace) along with them.

Kakashi smoothly put his hand in his small pack, and pulled out the familiar orange-jacketed book.

A day of walking, sprinkled with the occasional petty argument between Naruto and Sakura, came and went quickly. Despite his oblivious nature, Naruto had noticed Sasuke had been abnormally quiet all day--not even once did he snap at him to quiet down. Naruto glanced over his back at him, who was a few paces behind, kicking rubble meekly as he went. Sasuke looked up and met Naruto's look briefly, 'What?'

It was the first time he had spoke since that morning; Naruto was almost surprised at his voice.

'Oh… Oh, nothing! Hehe...' he rattled off, turning his face back to the now setting sun.

The orange light drenching everything it could reach looked to be Naruto's true habitat, if you will, catching the darker tones in his blond hair; if it weren't for the shadow behind him, the shadow Sasuke watched move forward with his eyes to the ground, Naruto would have seemed almost invisible--clad in orange himself. It seemed as if the sun could have bore him.

It was then the carriage came to a halt. Kioshi peeked his head out. 'I think now would be a good time to stop for the night?'

The four ninjas nodded respectively. They had been moving almost all day, spare a quick stop to have lunch, and there was no rush.

By the time the sun had set completely, there was one small camp set up--Kioshi had said his carriage was roomy enough for him to lay down a blanket and sleep inside.

Four sleeping bags roughly enclosed a modest fire. Again light washed their faces, albeit more sporadically as the fire crackled and danced.

Kakashi spoke. 'I'll take first watch', he pointed to himself. 'Naruto will be next. Sasuke will be after that, and', smiling slightly, he pointed to Sakura, 'you'll take last shift. Okay, everyone?'

There were sleepy nods of acknowledgement. Kakashi lifted himself from off the ground as the rest wormed their ways into their sleeping bags. He stood looking over the three stoicly for a moment, a hand in his pocket, before walking a few feet away to lean against a tree and keep an eye out for anything suspicious that may or may not threaten their client.

Sakura woke suddenly; it was dark. She sat up, trying to adjust her eyes to the light, or lack thereof. The fire had died out; there were just a few lingering ambers left. To her left she saw Naruto, snoring happily.

She thought maybe Kakashi was still completing his shift.

_No..._

He was there, sleeping with his back to her, across the fire pit. Her eyes travelled to Sasuke's sleeping bag--it was there, but he wasn't. She rose daintily, careful not to make much noise. There were trees ahead, past the fire pit, past sleeping Kakashi, where she could see a dark outline of the dark-haired boy. She pressed carefully forward. As she passed Kakashi, she noticed his mask in the dirt next to him. His face was (tactfully, she imagined) mostly covered by his sleeping bag. Overcome by curiosity, she crouched down next to him. Before pulling down the warm fabric, she brought her fingers gingerly to his forehead, and brushed some hair out of his face. He had taken off his Konoha-branded headband, of course. She had never seen him without it on. As her cold fingers touched his forehead he shuddered in his sleep.

Sakura shifted back startled. Maybe it was intrusive... She stood, looking at him briefly. She turned around and kept walking toward Sasuke. She hoped he hadn't seen her--what would he think?

'Sasuke-kun?' her voice was soft. She saw him, a few steps ahead, slumped against a tree.

'Sasuke-kun?' she stepped forward, her hand to his face. She had been alarmed for a moment--perhaps he had been hurt. But he was not bleeding. His breathing was smooth.

He was asleep.

She brought one knee down into the moist ground, resting an elbow on it, and sighed. Turning her body over into a sitting position, she scooted back against the tree, next to him.

This wasn't like Sasuke... why was he falling asleep at a time like this? What was bothering him?

After some hours, the sky began to lighten and Sasuke hadn't awoken. She dragged him back to the circle around the fire pit, setting him on top of his sleeping bag. She wasn't sure if she should tell the others about this. Walking back to the tree she had been watching from, she nearly died of surprise.

'Good job on your watch, Sakura!' a voice rang out from above. Standing on a tree branch, it was Kakashi.

_Oh no… Had he seen her taking over for Sasuke?_

Her long thin fingers combed through her hair tiredly. 'Good morning, Kakashi-_kun_', she nearly spat at the last syllable, remembering their conversation yesterday.

He chuckled, looking to the sleeping beauties below, 'Wake up. Naruto, Sasuke... The sun has risen. So must you.'

He jumped down, and gave Sasuke a gentle kick. He stirred.

'Naruto, you too!' he leaned down to face the sleeping blond and said this loudly, and Naruto awoke with a jump.

'What, what; are we under attack?' he struggled to free himself from his sleeping bag. 'I'm caught in some sort of ninjutsu!' he called out, still half-asleep. Looking up at the amused, if not a bit exasperated faces of Sakura and Kakashi, his struggling came to a stop. 'Oh. Hehe...' he removed himself from the sleeping bag slowly and rolled it up.

Meanwhile Sasuke had already quickly packed his sleeping bag away.

'We should do the same', Kakashi suggested. Sakura nodded, 'Yeah.' They parted and put away their things.

The daimyo's son was evidently still asleep. Naruto was now standing and stretching; he had already tugged on his daytime clothes. 'I'm hungry', he stated matter-of-factly.

'Oh...' Sakura pulled out a small bag. 'I brought rice balls.'

And they ate in silence.


End file.
